


mix tape

by wuyifans



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: EXO Prompt Meme, Fluff, M/M, coffee shop AU, mix tape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 15:07:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2155071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wuyifans/pseuds/wuyifans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for a prompt on the exo prompt meme: http://exopromptmeme.livejournal.com/17372.html?thread=8031964#t8031964</p><p>it takes chanyeol four minutes to fall in love with sehun. it takes him eight months to do anything about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	mix tape

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt](http://exopromptmeme.livejournal.com/17372.html?thread=8031964#t8031964)  
>  'Something like this please!
> 
> http://zropnt.tumblr.com/post/94179732492/summer-mix-something-different-more-like-an
> 
> +If smut, make it sweet and gentle!  
> ++Loads of fluff and cute awkward kisses here and there hehehe'

**track one** : falling slowly, _once_

it takes approximately 4 minutes for chanyeol to fall in love with sehun. the first time they meet, chanyeol’s in the middle of a six hour shift at the coffee shop. he’s tired and even his natural cheerfulness wears thin at work sometimes. impatient customers and screaming children and never ending lines tend to make his smile grow more and more forced as time goes by.

it’s january, freezing cold outside with ice frosted on the glass of the windows. the forecast was predicting snow, and a lot of it over the next week or so, and chanyeol’s glad for the heat of the coffee machines.

sehun comes in bundled up in a scarf and jacket, his nose red and his expression set in a slight frown. he’s tall and his shoulders are broad; his hair looks silky where it falls as a blonde swoop against his forehead. chanyeol sees him waiting in line, and thinks he’s never seen anyone so perfect.

when it’s time to take sehun’s order, chanyeol feels flustered and uncoordinated. he almost tips the stack of takeout cups as he grabs for a venti, and he feels his ears grow warm as sehun stifles a giggle. he scrawls the abbreviations for caramel latte on the cup and when sehun tells chanyeol his name, his tone sounds bored, but his voice is soft, the slightest hint of a lisp. chanyeol concentrates as his pen forms the characters, and when he looks up at sehun and takes his money, sehun’s smiling at him. it’s just a slight twist of pink lips, but chanyeol feels himself falling head over heels.

the grin that chanyeol gives sehun in return is probably goofy and unattractive, but he can’t help himself. he keeps half an eye on the end of the counter, and when jongdae calls sehun’s name, chanyeol watches him collect his cup, long gloved fingers curling over chanyeol’s writing on the side.

before he leaves, sehun casts a casual glance back at chanyeol behind the register. he gives a small smile again when chanyeol holds his hand up in a wave and calls out a goodbye.

when he finishes his shift, chanyeol unlocks his bike from the railings outside the front of the starbucks, trying to touch the chilled metal as little as possible. instead of concentrating on his frozen hands and feet, he thinks about sehun on his ride home. he thinks about the way the sharp angle of his jawline had poked out from above his scarf, and the dark sweep of his eyelashes against his cheek when he’d looked down.

even after chanyeol’s got home and warmed up, been chastised by his roommate kyungsoo for leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor, and proceeded to steal half of kyungsoo’s dinner, sehun’s on his mind. he sits on his unmade bed with his guitar, and plays.

 

* * *

 

 

 **track two** : i'm yours, _jason mraz_

a week later, and sehun’s ordering another takeout caramel latte. this time, the café is quiet, with snow piled up on the sidewalk outside and only a few regular customers battling the weather to come in for a caffeine fix. his light skin looks striking against the dark fur collar of his jacket, and his tongue darts out to lick at his lips while he watches chanyeol write his order on a cup.

“i'm chanyeol, by the way,” chanyeol says after he’s passed the order down the line and sehun’s about to shuffle off to wait for his beverage.

sehun raises his eyebrows slightly. “okay,” he says after a moment of hesitation. “thanks chanyeol.”

 

* * *

 

 

 **track three** : instrumental on guitar, _composed by park chanyeol_

it becomes a regular thing. like clockwork, sehun comes in while chanyeol’s working every thursday. their conversations haven’t moved on much past the usual greeting, order taking and goodbyes. but sometimes sehun will make a complaint about his college classes, or comment on how the weather’s warming up, or chanyeol will embarrass himself in some way. the clumsiness is worth it, because then he’ll get to hear sehun laugh, which honestly, is something he wants to hear every day for the rest of his life.

chanyeol wants to think sehun’s regular visits are because he wants to see him, rather than coincidence or convenience. but for once, his natural optimism does not shine through, and he’s reluctant to get his hopes up.

especially since sehun is sometimes accompanied by an attractive friend, possibly his boyfriend. sehun’s friend – jongin, which chanyeol is sure of, since he’s had to write it on a cup more times than he’d like – has a light, teasing manner with sehun that hints at a close relationship. he gives chanyeol a withering glare or a wry smirk when his eyes linger on sehun a little too long, which makes chanyeol want to lock himself in the back room and cry among the extra sacks of coffee beans.

chanyeol spends almost an hour on one thursday evening in may bothering his roommate with his whining and complaining about this. sehun had come in for his latte as usual that day, with jongin in tow, unfortunately, and they’d sat in for once. chanyeol had spent the whole time alternating between throwing longing glances over in sehun’s direction and glaring at jongin.

“i cannot deal with your pining any longer!” baekhyun had hissed, cornering chanyeol over by the pastry cabinet, where he’d been peering at the table in the corner through the glass. “you’re being a pathetic little creep, just go and talk to him or something,” and chanyeol had ended up being slapped upside the head.

chanyeol’s yell had made sehun look over in his direction, made jongin snigger, and chanyeol had spent the rest of the afternoon moping. he did lock himself in the back room for about ten minutes, until jongdae had dragged him back out with an air of an exasperated parent.

so, hoping for some sympathy, chanyeol thrashes around on kyungsoo’s bed, lamenting the fact that sehun has a boyfriend already, and that the boyfriend in question is infinitely more dark and handsome than chanyeol, while kyungsoo ignores him from his desk.

“it’s not fair,” chanyeol says melodramatically for the fifth time in as many minutes. he lets out another exaggerated sigh and tosses a hand over his face, then peeks through his fingers to see if kyungsoo’s paying attention to him or not. he isn’t. “kyungsoo-yah, you’re not even listening to me.”

there’s no pause in kyungsoo’s typing. “no I wasn’t,” he admits easily, and although his back is turned, chanyeol can tell kyungsoo’s rolling his eyes. “I zoned out after the first three minutes of ‘oh, sehun’s so gorgeous, sehun’s so pretty, why does he have a boyfriend already? i’m park chanyeol and my life is so unfair….’” kyungsoo’s imitation of chanyeol’s voice is low and droning, an impression that would make baekhyun proud, even. “but listen, here’s a crazy idea. have you even asked sehun if jongin’s his boyfriend?”

sitting upright in a flash, chanyeol’s face breaks into a manic grin. “you’re right!” he half shouts, untangling himself from kyungsoo’s bed sheets and stumbling to his feet. he claps his hands together. “that’s what i’ll do!”

“great! now re-make my bed and get out.”

chanyeol’s buzzing with anticipation all week, so much so that he freaks out several customers with his manic grin. and when thursday rolls around, chanyeol keeps his fingers figuratively crossed all morning, waiting for sehun’s visit and hoping he’s alone today.

baekhyun’s just taking over from chanyeol on the counter so he can go for a break, when chanyeol sees sehun appearing in the door way. although he’s already halfway across the room, caramel machiatto in hand, chanyeol leaps back across the café, dumping his drink and throwing his apron back on over his head.

sehun’s looking sleepy and adorable when he wanders in for his drink. more importantly, luck seems to be on chanyeol’s side, and sehun is unaccompanied. he’s just wearing a light spring cardigan, instead of his usual well-fitted jackets, and chanyeol’s thankful for the vast increase in temperature recently. the sleeves of sehun’s cardigan are snug against his slender arms, dark gray cashmere showing off a willowy figure. the skinny jeans he’s wearing it with make his ass look great, and chanyeol thinks he could write dozens of songs praising that butt, which must surely be a contender for the eighth wonder of the world.

“chanyeol, what are you doing?” baekhyun shrieks as he’s elbowed out of the way. “get lost, you’ve literally just left for your break-“

“ha ha ha, n-no i haven’t, what are you talking about?” chanyeol says, forcing a laugh that’s a little too loud, glancing at where sehun’s waiting to order. his eyebrows are raised, and chanyeol discreetly shoves baekhyun behind him.

“hi, chanyeol,” sehun says, a tired smile playing about his mouth. he’s dyed his hair too, and it falls in sleek brown bangs over his eyes. chanyeol wants to pet it. “can I have a grande iced green tea latte today, please?”

“is jongin your boyfriend?” chanyeol blurts quickly, and has the grace to feel a little embarrassed when sehun starts in surprise at the volume of his voice and the abruptness of the question.

chanyeol hears an “oh jesus,” from baekhyun and he aims a kick at his shin. the answering yelp tells him it was right on the mark.

then, sehun gives a small laugh. “are you crazy? of course not,” sehun says, still laughing. “he’s like my oldest friend. why do you ask?”

chanyeol feels his body slump in relief and he laughs a little too, grabbing for a clear takeout grande cup. he feels light and cheery as his sharpie swirls against the plastic, adding a small neatly-penned sentence below sehun’s name. “oh, no reason…” he says airily, waving his hand around a little and accidentally swiping his pen across his cheek. presumably, a dark blue streak is left on his skin, as this only serves to make sehun laugh harder. chanyeol gives a sheepish smile. “just wondering, you know.”

as sehun moves away, his laughs dying down to a slight shaking of his shoulders, chanyeol passes the takeout cup across to jongdae, avoiding baekhyun’s reaching hands. baekhyun would tease chanyeol mercilessly for what was written on sehun’s cup, but jongdae, who flirted with almost everyone who came his way, would probably be cooler about it.

as expected, jongdae sees the message on the cup and raises an eyebrow, then nods his approval to chanyeol. “nice,” he says, setting to work on sehun’s order.

apparently, sehun doesn’t read the message right away, since he just waves and heads out, which is probably for the best. if he thinks it’s cheesy and lame, at least he can’t turn back and throw his drink in chanyeol’s face.

“you know instead of catapulting across the room and assaulting me,” baekhyun says, as chanyeol watches sehun leave with an adoring sigh. “why didn’t you just stay on your break and talk to him like a normal person?”

pausing to consider that for a second, chanyeol groans. “shut up, baekhyun.”

 

* * *

 

 

 **track four:** creep, _radiohead_

“so you like me a latte, huh?” sehun asks, eyebrows well and truly raised. it’s a week later, and yes, sehun did eventually read the cheesy message on his cup, then.

chanyeol tries to act casual, leaning against the cash register. instead, he presses multiple buttons with his elbow, and as if the chorus of angry beeps wasn’t enough to embarrass him and spoil the image of suave sophistication that is park chanyeol, the cash drawer flies out and hits him in the stomach.

it takes several tries for the drawer to slam back into the register, and chanyeol’s cheeks are flushed when he looks back up at sehun. he clears his throat. “uh, yes, anyway,” he says, rubbing his rib where he’d been assaulted by the stupid cash register. “what were you saying?”

“your dumb coffee pun.”

“did you like it a latte?” chanyeol asks, wiggling his eyebrows up and down, and he ignores the hoot of laughter from his fellow baristas. their laughter only increases tenfold when chanyeol tries to move away from the register and almost pulls it clean off the counter. his apron’s caught in the cash drawer.

how can sehun possibly resist him.

but chanyeol’s stupid coffee pick up line does a great thing by breaking the ice with sehun – at long last. over the next couple of weeks, sehun ups his visits from once to three times a week, citing an increased need for caffeine now classes were out for the summer and he was working more instead. apparently he works at a clothes store downtown, and chanyeol’s starbucks is on his way home.

if it’s quiet, he hangs around the counter for a long time, talking to chanyeol and sipping at his drink. he talks to jongdae and baekhyun a little too, when they’re working at the same time as chanyeol, (which is almost always, since despite the teasing and messing around, the three of them actually do make a very good team) although his shy smiles are only given to chanyeol.

one friday evening, sehun stays long after his drink’s finished, waiting while chanyeol cleans tables and closes up shop. chanyeol listens as sehun talks about his most recent dance group practice, complaining about his aching muscles. chanyeol can hardly get a word in, but he’s happy that they’re friends enough to have long, proper conversations now. sehun’s a lot more talkative now it’s just the two of them in the café too.

sehun lapses into silence as he trails behind chanyeol round to where he usually locks his bike up. “I like talking to you,” sehun says quietly, as chanyeol frees his bike.

“me too,” chanyeol agrees eagerly. “to you, I mean.”

sehun’s tongue licks at his lips and chanyeol follows the movement with his eyes. he becomes suddenly very aware of how close they are together, how sehun’s eyes shine in the glow from the streetlights as he looks up at chanyeol through his lashes. chanyeol can hear the whispery sound of sehun’s breathing, and he has a sudden crazy urge to pull sehun closer and kiss him.

but then there’s the sound of a ringtone blasting out from somewhere in sehun’s pocket, and the moment’s gone. they both jump, chanyeol huffing a wry laugh as sehun fumbles for his phone.

“I’m sorry chanyeol-hyung,” sehun says, somewhat distracted as he cancels the call, stuffing his phone into his bag. “but I have to run. zitao’s probably wondering where I am…”

“I’ll see you soon then,” chanyeol calls after him, stopping to watch sehun’s figure retreating down the sidewalk until he rounds the corner and disappears from sight.

 

* * *

 

 

 **track five:** lovesick, _peace_

from: unknown  
hyung I’m sick (╥_╥)

chanyeol stares at the text for a full minute. there’s a very short list of who the sender could be. a list of exactly one person. he wrote his number on one of sehun’s takeout cups weeks ago. since no message or call came, he guessed sehun hadn’t noticed, or just forget to write it down, or just didn’t particularly care enough to save chanyeol’s number.

to: unknown  
sehun??

just to be safe, chanyeol thought, his thumb hovering over ‘send’ before eventually sending the message on its way. the reply is almost instantaneous.

from: unknown  
yeah obviously

to: ♡ ♡ ♡ sehunnie ♡ ♡ ♡  
what’s wrong??????  
are you alright????

from: ♡ ♡ ♡ sehunnie ♡ ♡ ♡  
I have the flu  
pls come and keep me company~

to: ♡ ♡ ♡ sehunnie ♡ ♡ ♡  
if you want me to??

from: ♡ ♡ ♡ sehunnie ♡ ♡ ♡  
bring me a latte ( ^▽^)

thirty minutes later, and chanyeol’s awkwardly knocking on sehun’s door with his forehead, his hands busy holding a very full and very heavy grocery bag, as well sehun’s requested coffee. it’s a miracle that it arrived intact without spilling on the bike ride over, precariously balanced between chanyeol’s fingers on the handlebars.

when sehun opens the door, he looks pitiful, all bundled up in a comforter, his hair sticking out at odd angles. it’s annoying how badly chanyeol still wants to kiss him. chanyeol’s been thinking of little else recently.

there’s a small meow, and chanyeol looks down to see a cat winding it’s way around sehun’s ankles. “oh wow,” chanyeol says, passing sehun’s coffee over and dumping the grocery bag on the ground to lean down and pet the fluffy thing behind its ears. “I didn’t know you had a cat. I love cats,” he says, bundling it up in his arms and straightening up. the bright silver tag on its collar says pumpkin in small engraved letters.

“mm, I’m more of a dog person, really. but she just kept coming in through my bedroom window from the fire escape, so I let her stay,” sehun says, more interested in taking a sip of his latte. chanyeol hears him slam the door, and he freezes when he feels sehun at his back. the side of sehun’s face is pressed against the back of his neck while he leans on chanyeol, and chanyeol forgets how to breathe. “what’s in the bag?” sehun asks, his voice muffled and so close.

swallowing past the dryness in his mouth, chanyeol forces a laugh. he steps away and sets pumpkin on the ground, reclaiming the groceries. “everyone likes soup when they’re sick, right?” he says, forcing his voice to remain steady and at a reasonable volume, even though his heartbeat’s suddenly sped up far more than should be healthy. “I’m going to make you soup, where’s the kitchen?”

sehun’s mouth drops open into a little round ‘o’ of surprise. “you’re making me soup?” he asks, eyebrows raised. “am I going to survive eating it?”

“ha ha ha, you’re hilarious,” chanyeol says dryly, making a shooing motion at sehun. “go sit down somewhere, I’m sure I can find your kitchen.”

the kitchen is in fact, very easy to locate, seeing as sehun’s apartment is fairly small, and the living room, dining area and kitchen is all one space. he should feel weird about snooping through  
someone else’s cupboards to find pots and pans and other cooking utensils, but chanyeol’s still a little shook up from sehun creeping up behind him in the hallway, and having something to concentrate on is a welcome alternative to his mind saying oh god sehun sehun sehun I love you on repeat.

besides, the way to everyone’s heart is through food, generally. and chanyeol happens to be an excellent cook. he’d started cooking years ago, as a way to soothe his constant restless energy. he generally feels so calm when he has the distraction of a recipe to focus on, as well as something productive to do with his hands. the chicken and noodle soup that chanyeol prepares for sehun is delicious, even if he says so himself. he’s literally outdone himself on the soup front. renaissance fair minstrels could write ballads about how great this soup is.

“sehunnie?” chanyeol calls, arranging the soup bowl and a glass of water on a tray he’s found out from one of the cupboards.

“i’m in here,” comes sehun’s voice, hoarse and quiet, and when chanyeol follows the sound, he finds himself in sehun’s bedroom.

the rest of the apartment, chanyeol has little interest in, even though it’s well-lived in, and tastefully decorated. but walking into sehun’s bedroom, towards where he’s curled up in bed with pumpkin tucked under his arm, is different. it’s a lot neater than chanyeol would have expected, for one thing. but there’s polaroids stuck on the wall over a desk littered with school books and scraps of notepaper, a few stuffed dolls among his pillows. there’s nothing out of the ordinary as far as the decor goes, really, but being let in to the place where sehun sleeps and dresses and even does his boring college assignments feels intense.

“chanyeol-ah, I can’t believe you made me soup,” sehun says, awe filling his flu-rough voice. “if i had a sense of smell right now, i’d probably say it smells good. give it here,” he urges, flapping his hands until chanyeol perches on the side of his bed, passing the soup over when sehun’s sat up.

they sit in silence for a while as sehun devours the soup like a man starved. he’s several spoonfuls in when he narrows his eyes at chanyeol. “i know i’m contagious right now, but you can sit more comfortably if you want,” he says, patting at the space beside him. “i promise i won’t sneeze on you.”

by degrees, chanyeol shuffles over to sit closer to sehun. he keeps an eye on sehun’s expectant expression as he scoots, checking he’s not overstepping the boundaries and getting too close. chanyeol doesn’t care about catching sehun’s flu, he wants to sit as close as sehun will let him. and chanyeol has an incredibly strong immune system anyway. it’ll take more than a couple of germs to knock his perfect health.

finally, chanyeol’s pressed right up against sehun’s side, trying not to hyperventilate, and when the soup’s finished with, sehun curls right up against his chest. if he’d been told this morning that he’d end up cuddling with sehun in his bed of all places, chanyeol would have had a heart attack. but now it’s happening, chanyeol feels himself relax, soothed by the feel of another warm body against his own, and the steady labored huffs of sehun’s breath.

“hyung,” sehun says, shifting slightly closer so chanyeol can rest his chin on top of sehun’s head. “thank you for coming, and for the soup. I hate being by myself when I’m sick.”

“it’s fine,” chanyeol replies, sehun’s tousled brown hair soft against his face. “I hope you’re feeling better. were – were your other friends busy?” he asks hesitantly, not sure if he’s reading too much into the situation. sehun confuses him, with his sweet smiles and scathing comments coming side by side, and chanyeol doesn’t want to set himself up for a fall of epic proportions if sehun’s only interested in friendship. although, chanyeol thinks, as sehun rearranges himself to look up at him, it’s way too late for that. chanyeol’s already in this far.

“no, I didn’t call them,” sehun says, a slight furrow between his brows. “I wanted to call you,” he adds, looking at chanyeol as if he’s completely missed an obvious point.

feeling the corner of his mouth quirk up into a smile, chanyeol leans down to knock his forehead against sehun’s. when sehun gasps, his fingers twisting in chanyeol’s shirt, chanyeol closes the remaining inches between their mouths and softly presses their lips together. it’s nervous on both sides, only chaste and fleeting for a few seconds before sehun pulls back with a sigh.

“not while I’m sick,” sehun says, sounding regretful as he grabs pumpkin round the waist to settle the purring cat on his lap between them. an adorable fat fluffy cat does work as an excellent cock block. chanyeol doesn’t want to scar the poor pet for life.

“oh. sorry.”

“not now doesn’t mean not ever, chanyeol.”

chanyeol does a celebratory fist pump, almost upsetting the empty soup bowl and sending it flying off the edge of the bed, and sehun snickers with laughter.

“you loser,” he says, and chanyeol doesn’t think he’s imagining the fondness behind the words.

 

* * *

 

 

 **track six** : improvisation on guitar, _park chanyeol_

over the next couple of weeks while sehun recovers – chanyeol did not catch sehun’s flu, thankfully – they text daily, sending dumb little messages back and forth. but when sehun starts coming in and visiting chanyeol at work again, healthy once more, chanyeol’s disappointed.

despite the cuddling and the soup and their kiss, things between them go back to exactly how they were before. teasing and friendly, but that’s it. friendly. chanyeol’s reluctant to ruin things and push sehun too far too fast, but he’s slowly going crazy. he can look back with some clarity now, and his puppy-love crush on sehun has blossomed into something stronger, more serious over the months.

looking after sehun when he was sick made chanyeol realize that he wants to walk down the street holding sehun’s hand, and watch movies curled up on the couch together with pumpkin, and come home and tell sehun all about his day. after seeing him with tousled hair and barefeet and looking so young and vulnerable, chanyeol just wants to hold sehun close and protect him.

“jongdae,” chanyeol says desperately after he’s watched sehun’s figure retreating from the starbucks with a farewell wave one too many times. “I need your help.”

“it’ll cost you,” jongdae says, not looking up from the frappucino he’s preparing.

sighing, chanyeol leans up against the back counter. “fine. but I need help with sehun,” he says. “kyungsoo doesn’t care and baekhyun has even less luck with relationships than I do. you’re my only hope, hyung.”

 

* * *

 

 

 **track seven** : 오늘은 꼭, _B.A.P_

the air outside is stifling and humid on the day that chanyeol decides to make his move. jongdae’s help, which had come at the high price of staying behind to do his share of the chores at quitting time for the next week, hadn’t been much help at all. he’d just told chanyeol that he needed to make some kind of gesture, lloyd dobler style. over the top and sappy enough to make sehun weak in the knees.

it might be lame and unoriginal, but the mix tape chanyeol makes for sehun could leave no doubt in sehun’s mind about how chanyeol feels about him. he slips in a couple of his own recorded songs, just mellow guitar playing without any vocals, but he hopes sehun can feel the emotion behind the music.

chanyeol’s so distracted and nervous on his way over to sehun’s that he almost takes several different wrong turnings, but he eventually pulls onto the right street. as he draws closer to sehun’s apartment building, he realizes sehun’s sat on the small stretch of grass between the door and the sidewalk. he waves across the street at him, nervous grin sliding into place, until he notices jongin sat beside sehun, and chanyeol’s arm drops limply at his side.

I really didn’t want an audience for this, chanyeol thinks, looking down at the cassette box in his hand and having second thoughts. maybe if he turns and runs now, he can pretend this never happened…

“hey, chanyeol-hyung!”

chanyeol turns and sees sehun a few paces away from him, red faced from the heat, his pale limbs poking from his tank top and shorts.

“oh, h-hey, sehun,” chanyeol says, attempting casual indifference and failing, his voice a lot higher than normal. “wow, fancy running into you here… at your house…” he clears his throat and shuffles from foot to foot.

“did you want something?”

“oh! um, well yeah-“ chanyeol starts, and darts a nervous glance across to where jongin’s still lounging on the grass.

sehun follows his gaze and glares over at jongin, whose mild interest turns to surprise in an instant. “what?!” he asks, feigning innocence for a moment until he sighs, gets up and dusts the seat of his pants off. “fine! I’ll go… it’s too hot for me out here anyway.”

chanyeol waits until jongin’s ambled off down the street before he turns back to sehun. “ha, thanks.”

“I’ll tell him everything later, anyway, he knows that,” sehun admits with a shrug.

“o-kay,” chanyeol says, wondering if he should proceed with the plan or ditch it after this new information’s come to light. he doesn’t want sehun to tell jongin about the mix tape and laugh at him, or something, but after a few seconds of deliberation, chanyeol throws caution to the wind. it’d be a waste to back out of this now. “I made you something!” he says, handing over the mix tape, writing side up so sehun can see the track list.

examining the small plastic box with interest, sehun cocks his head to one side. “thanks… what is it?”

“it’s a mix tape with songs I picked out for you,” chanyeol explains eagerly, turning the box over so sehun can see the cassette inside through the clear case. “there’s a couple of mine on there too… songs I wrote, I mean.”

with a wry smile, sehun glances up at him and pulls his cell phone from his pocket. “but how do I play it? I haven’t even seen a cassette player since the nineties.”

feeling his stomach drop, chanyeol curses himself for not thinking about that. “oh, I’m sorry,” he says, reaching out to take the mix tape back, but sehun holds on to it tightly. “I didn’t think-“

“I’ll work something out,” sehun says. “thanks hyung, I like it. now stop stressing, it makes your face look ugly.”

as soon as chanyeol gets back into the safety of his own home, he locks himself in his room and throws himself on the bed in despair. he feels dumb and embarrassed, and his thoughts are just a swarm of oh gosh I’m so dumb I’m going to die until his phone rings.

when chanyeol sees the caller id pop up as ♡ ♡ ♡ sehunnie ♡ ♡ ♡, chanyeol grabs for the accept call button, his voice overly loud as he answers.

“hey, it’s me,” sehun says from the other side of the phone, his tone a little uncertain. “I listened to the mix tape, I had to go to the mall and get a tape player, but… I liked it. so, thank you. and, um - chanyeol, don’t make a big deal of this or anything, but… I really like you-“

chanyeol’s phone flies from his hand as he throws his arms in the air with a cheer, and he can’t help but think finally!

 

* * *

 

 

 **track eight:** 1-4-3 (i love you) – acoustic version, _henry_

chanyeol takes sehun for his first proper date the next day, even if it’s only bubble tea and sitting in the park together. sehun’s a student, after all, and chanyeol’s a barista, so neither of them are exactly rolling in the cash.

he had offered to stop by work to get him an iced green tea latte like usual, but sehun had shuddered and shook his head. “do you know how many damn lattes I’ve had over the past few months, chanyeol?” he says, wrinkling his nose. “if you’d just hurried up and asked me out-“

“whoa, whoa, whoa,” chanyeol says, shooting up a hand. “I had no idea you were even interested!”

“oh, come on,” sehun says, stirring his bubble tea and prodding the tapioca with the sharp end of his straw. “I made it plenty obvious.” he takes a sip of his drink, watching chanyeol through narrowed eyes as he chews a mouthful of boba.

smirking, chanyeol leans over and pecks at sehun’s lips, tastes the sweetness of chocolate from his drink. “did not.”

“you’re so lame,” sehun accuses, though he’s smiling. “first your stupid ‘I like you a latte’, and the soup, and the mix tape, and now holding hands on a park bench.” there’s a pause while sehun looks down at his sneakers, toes scuffing in the ground. “do you want to go back to my place?”

when they get to sehun’s apartment, time is lost petting pumpkin, who remembers chanyeol and will not let him get away without as much fuss as last time. when she’s satisfied, she runs off to sleep on the couch, and then sehun fiddles around with the air conditioning, flapping around and complaining about the heat, opening windows and fanning himself with a hand.

and then there are no more distractions, and chanyeol has sehun exactly where he wants him, pressed down onto the sheets of his bed. it’s too hot to do anything but take it slowly, and when clothing is discarded and tossed across the room, they just lie holding each other for a while. chanyeol not-so-subtly admires the blush patching the long expanse of milky skin stretching from sehun’s collarbones to his belly. he runs fingertips over the half-hard length of sehun’s cock, and he hears a hitch in sehun’s breathing, sehun biting his lip as chanyeol takes him in hand.

then sehun’s touching him too, with tentative strokes that make chanyeol’s heart beat rabbit-fast. soft, quick brushes of lips become languid, open mouthed kisses, and sehun guides chanyeol’s hands lower and lower, until he catches the hint. “are you sure?” chanyeol asks, voice husky as he rubs hesitant fingers over sehun’s hole.

“obviously,” sehun says, and stretches across to retrieve lube from the nightstand drawer. he lies pliant and loose-limbed on his back while chanyeol prepares him as gently as possible, concentrating on every faint mewl that sehun lets out. neither of them have the energy to kiss properly any more, it’s too hot, so they just press their foreheads together, breathing the same air, completely and utterly wrapped up in each other.

when chanyeol enters him, sehun opens his mouth in a silent scream, locks his ankles behind chanyeol’s back and his breath comes in and out as long, drawn out pants.

“sehun, are you-“ chanyeol asks, his voice tight as all he wants to do is move, but he’d rather die than hurt sehun, and maybe it’s too much for him-

but nodding frantically, sehun puts his hands either side of chanyeol’s face, his dark eyes open and searching. “chanyeol,” he sighs, sweaty palms moving to stroke through chanyeol’s hair. cradling chanyeol’s head against his neck, sehun presses feather-light kisses to the top of his head. “chanyeol,” sehun says again, and it sounds like a love confession, the name spoken with something akin to reverence.

chanyeol feels safe and loved, held against sehun’s chest, and he starts to move his hips. just a small pull out, and an even gentler push back in, but he’s met with the complete surrender of sehun’s relaxed body to him. when chanyeol thrusts once more in earnest, he feels sehun’s cock poking insistently into his belly.

“not yet,” sehun moans as chanyeol tries to reach for it, and his back arches suddenly. “chanyeol, I just want to feel you-“

adjusting his position, chanyeol kneels back, pries sehun’s legs apart from where they’re digging into chanyeol’s spine. he holds one up by the knee, so that sehun’s body is as open as possible, propped up and ready. when chanyeol pushes back in, sehun lets out a long, drawn out moan.

planting sloppy, open mouthed kisses along the inside of sehun’s knee, chanyeol concentrates on drawing this out as long as possible. they have all the time in the world, he realizes. there’s plenty of time later for fast, hard sex that has sehun writhing in the sheets and screaming. potentially weeks or months or years, and chanyeol has to wait a moment for the enormity of that to sink in. but chanyeol will never get this back, his first time with sehun, and he needs to savor it. he wants to show sehun exactly how much he means to chanyeol, pour eight months of longing into every slow rock of his hips.

“chanyeol, I swear to god that if you don’t fuck me properly now, i'm going to-“ sehun twitches his hips in an uncoordinated jerk, and his eyes fall closed again.

but whatever sehun was going to do, chanyeol doesn’t find out, because he rolls his hips out and back in, and sehun’s words break off into a gasp. finding a steady, deliberate rhythm, chanyeol throws his head back, feels sehun’s body go limp and can’t stop. he draws closer and closer to finishing at an alarming speed, and when he feels sehun tense around his cock, it’s done.

with sehun’s gasps in his ears, chanyeol drops forward, feels stickiness on his belly when it crashes against sehun’s. no more than four more shallow jerks of his hips, and chanyeol’s coming, his body tensing and feeling incredible. chanyeol feels so light headed, until the feeling of sehun’s fingers raking through his hair brings him back to earth.

“I love you, I love you,” chanyeol murmurs, his face smushed into sehun’s neck where his pulse jumps beneath the skin, and he can’t stop saying it. “sehun, I love you so fucking much.”

“it’s okay, i know,” sehun replies, somehow managing to sound cocky, despite his shortness of breath. he nudges at chanyeol’s chest, his palms sweaty.

rolling over so he’s no longer squashing sehun’s body beneath his own, chanyeol winces and peels off the condom, ties it off and tosses it into the waste basket by the side of the bed. he turns back over and eyes sehun’s spent cock where it’s softening on his come-splattered belly. he feels like a dick for sehun having to take care of himself while chanyeol was doing his own thing. “sorry,” chanyeol says, propping himself up on a wobbly elbow. “I should have…”

with a grunt, sehun reaches for tissues from the nightstand, cleans himself off. “it’s fine, I guess you can blow me later,” he says graciously, his eyes curving with a smile.

“later, huh?” chanyeol says, waggling his eyebrows. “already want more?”

“stop it, you’re ruining the afterglow,” sehun says, smacking at him with a lazy hand. “but yes. pass that to me.” sehun gestures at the little cassette player on the dresser over on chanyeol’s side of the bed.

reluctant to actually get up and walk to the dresser, chanyeol makes a show of stretching out as far as possible and giving sehun a front row view of his butt. it should feel awkward, still being naked and breathless from a round of very emotion-heavy sex. he feels so completely comfortable around sehun, and he knows he’s a sentimental idiot, but chanyeol thinks that this must be the real deal – perfect, rom-com style true love.

just as chanyeol lays his hand on the cassette player and gets ready to throw himself back on to the bed, he feels his knee sliding on the comforter, and in a split second, he’s on the floor. “ah!” chanyeol cries, throwing a hand over his face, practically feeling the bruises blossoming across his skin already. “sehun-ah, help me!”

as soon as sehun’s surprised face appears over the edge of the bed, his expression genuinely concerned, chanyeol’s pulling him down too, until they’re both just a tangle of overly-long arms and legs. “oh my god, you asshole!” sehun shrieks, struggling in chanyeol’s grip for all of five seconds until they both dissolve into fits of laughter.

once his giggles have subsided, sehun sits up, the remainder of a broad smile playing about his lips as he looks down at chanyeol. he drops a quick kiss on the corner of chanyeol’s mouth, and when he pulls back, his cheeks are flushed. “okay, my butt’s hurting, let me back on the bed.”

they rearrange themselves among the bedsheets, sehun tucked under chanyeol’s arm, half-lying on him. he clicks play on the mix tape, and chanyeol grins as the first song begins.

“now who’s being cheesy?” chanyeol asks, poking sehun’s ribs. “listening to the mix tape i made for you.”

“oh, stop,” sehun says, wriggling a little, getting comfortable.

as he hums along to the lyrics playing, chanyeol closes his eyes and feels utterly content. he’s not much of a staying-still kind of person, but he really could just lie here for as long as sehun will let him. he forgets that it’s almost 100 degrees outside, and that they’re gross and sweaty and smelling of come, and that really soon his belly’s going to start growling for food.

“chanyeol-ah,” sehun mutters, half-asleep, as chanyeol’s almost drifted off himself. “i love you too, okay. but don’t be weird about it.”

“yesssss,” chanyeol says sleepily, raising a fist in the air, and a moment later, he’s flat out, with the soft playing music and sehun’s tired groan the last thing he hears.

 

* * *

 

 

 **end track** : better together, _jack johnson_

**Author's Note:**

> OP, I hope this was ok~ (´･ω･`)  
> I also hope you didn't mind me blending in the coffee shop AU, i wanted to write backstory/build up and coffee shop AU is the fluffiest thing ever, so  
> this was a super cute prompt to write, thank you （　´∀｀）  
> it also gave me a break from battling three awfully long WIPs that i just cannot finish 
> 
> the mix tape songs are literally just songs i've heard chanyeol versions of, and just some cute songs i like, apart from the 'chanyeol' composed songs, you'll just have to imagine those~
> 
>    
> that i like you a latte thing was inspired by chanyeol's dumb 'if i eat a banana will you banhana' thing when he was in law of the jungle, he's such a dweeb, i love him.
> 
>  
> 
> i saw a fan art of sehun with a kitty by the same artist, so pumpkin had to be written in 
> 
> (i'm also a cat person)
> 
>  
> 
> thank you for reading~~!


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